I need to accept a credit card via email or phone..what are my options?

I'm in a little bit of a quandry, I've got a client of mine at who is going to purchase some work at Article Authors, but yet the don't trust paypal enough to do so. Since being in business last year I haven't had any requests to do a straight c.card transaction outside of paypal. Do I have any reasonable options?

 

There really isn't a good way to setup a onetime transaction, there are some setup costs. I would also suggest not sending CC numbers via email, only phone and encrypted web pages.

 

Even if I need to make 2 transactions a year? It was my understanding that certain fees (maybe monthly?) need to be exacted in order to do so. Has anyone used 2checkout.com to process the occasional c.card order?

 

With a traditional merchant account, you would be looking at a very minimum of about $5 / month, but you can usually get setup without any fee. With a 3rd party processor such as paypal or 2checkout you aren't going to have any monthly fees. 2checkout is going to have a setup fee.

How large of a transaction are you talking about?

 

I'll be looking at 2 charges of between 160-180 total.

 

If you break it down by how much its going to cost, it should give you an idea of your best option.

Merchant Account:
Setup Fee: 0
Monthly Cost Minimum: $5
Processing & Transaction: Internet or Keyed 2.3% + $.25

Assume 2 x $90 transactions - 2.3% x $180 + ($.50 transaction fees) $4.75
12months x $5 = $60
~$65 / year

3rd Party Processor: (2checkout)
$49 setup
5.5% + $.45 / transaction
monthly cost: $0

Assume 2 x $90 transactions - 5.5% x $180 + ($.90 transaction fees) $10.80
setup - $49
~$59.80 / year

2checkout or a similar 3rd party processor is going to be cheaper, especially if you do the same thing for several years. The general guide I go by, is that once a business is doing about $1000 / month online, a merchant account will be justifiable.

In your case I would use 2checkout or another 3rd party processor. I dont keep up on all the fees 3rd party processors charge, but if you can find one with no setup, it will definitely be the best way to go.

 

You could always try xoom.com. I've used them a couple of times very successfully.

 

Thanks for the break down jestep, I appreciate it. Now say I were to go with 2checkout.com , would I need to setup a webpage cart for her purchase, or can she just phone me her credit card number and info and I can

A) input it myself into the webpage cart or
B) utilize some other method to charge her card using 2checkout

 

with 2 checkout you need to send her to a payment page via a link that 2checkout will give you... its hosted on their servers and 100% secure...

 

just noticed this on an ad... if your in the UK maybe this will be of benefit...
http://www.fasthosts.co.uk/ecommerce/merchant-account/

 

Most 3rd party processors don't have a virtual terminal like a merchant account would have. A virtual terminal would be uncontrollable for fraud on their part so its normally not included. or available.

2checkout and most others have a free shopping cart system. I think the easiest would be to make a single item for the customer to purchase when needed. Since you have such a low volume of credit transactions, it shouldn't be too much extra work to do.